Thursday, December 15, 2011

I was able to catch a sneak preview of Mission Impossible 4: Ghost Protocol on Wednesday night. It was in the IMAX theater, so it had all the appropriate bells and whistles.

I'm not a big fan of Tom Cruise. I AM a big fan of Brad Bird, and seeing as how this was his first live-action movie, I wanted to see how he did. If I was pressed for my initial reaction to the movie, I would say it was okay. Not great, not mind-blowing, not spectacular....just okay.

First off, I'm not a fan of the MI movies. Why, you ask? Because Abrams pulled a dick move in the first movie and made Jim Phelps (the original MI agent from the classic tv show) the bad guy. He essentially just took a gigantic shit on all the fans of the tv show (which he did again with his version of Star Trek, but that's for another story). So the two things compelling me to see this installment was Brad Bird, and The Dark Knight Rises prologue. BUT, I still went into this movie with an open mind and treated it as a spy movie that had nothing to do with a great tv series.

What I got was a lot of people running after and away from each other on foot. Actually a shit-ton of running. In a movie that has a run time of 2 hours and 13 minutes, one hour was just of people running on foot. The chase scenes were so long they actually got boring. The most exciting scene in the movie you've already seen on tv commercials. It's the skyscraper free climb. That was also the most stunt-intensive scene in the movie.

In other words, for a big budget, spy-action movie, it was strangely devoid of big scenes that made the audience go 'wow'. Which I found very disappointing.

As for the actors, Tom Cruise played the agent that has everything well in hand (which became kind of annoying because it meant the character is never in any real danger...except for the skyscraper scene). Simon Pegg played......Simon Pegg. He's supposed to be the techie of the bunch, but he's throwing out little one liners and even a few lines from movies he's made in the past. Paula Patton was pretty, but never any real personality for the role. In fact, a female assassin played by Lea Seydoux not only upstages Patton, but makes me wish that their roles had been reversed. Jeremy Renner was the only star in the bunch that actually shined brightly. Not only did he do a great and believable job, but he even conveyed the fun that he was having with the role as well. The guy who played the villain was so bad, that I didn't even bother to learn or look up his name. Nope, I have the IMDB page open, but I'm not even looking at his name because he played an easy role so badly that you could easily interchange him with any James Bond, low rung lackey and get a better villain in the trade.

In the end, I walked out of this one tired, not pumped (which I usually am after a good action movie) with kind of a 'meh' indifference to the whole thing. Or let me put it another way....the night before I was fortunate enough to see The Dark Knight Rises (TDKR) six minute prologue in a sneak preview in the IMAX theater. I waited in line two and half hours for a t-shirt and a six minute preview. That six minutes had a tighter action sequence and an spectacular stunt that left me floored than the entire two hour and thirteen minutes of MI4 did. In fact, as I was leaving the MI4 screening I actually was running the prologue back through my head and marveling at how much better (and tighter), and how much more exciting that six minutes was compared to all of MI4.

MI4 could easily have been trimmed down to 90 minutes, since the plot really isn't anything you haven't already seen before in a Bond movie (which is better anyway (even the shitty ones with Brosnan as Remington Steele...err...'Bond')). So the bottom line is is it worth the IMAX ticket price? That depends. Do you want to see a spectacular six minutes of action with TDKR only to be let down with the mediocre action and questionable special effects of the two hour movie that follows it? If your answer is 'no', then I'd say this is a bargain matinee only if you're really super bored during the holidays and you've already seen everything else in the theaters at least twice. Otherwise, I'd say skip it and watch it on DVD or pay-cable movie networks.

Oh, I'm aware that some you out there think I hate everything (which is far from the truth, I'm just so good at crucifying the bad stuff that you remember that much more vividly), but I overheard more than a few people leaving the theater saying that it was boring, with a few even saying they fell asleep. For a 7:30pm showing. So I wasn't the only one.

Rating: Bargain matinee only if you've seen everything else in the theater, otherwise wait until DVD.

Sunday, December 11, 2011

I decided to try something a little different today, I decided to try and go a little retro in my drawing. This came about mainly due to two reasons; 1. most comic artists (that are male) tend to draw women on the slightly more masculine side (I've been guilty of this too), especially if that woman happens to be a super heroine, and 2. I've been reading a lot of Ghost Rider from the 70's lately, and I've been digging the way the artists were drawing women back then. So I decided to give it a shot. Here's the result:

As you can see, I started from the top and worked my way to the bottom. The top one, not so great, but not horrendous either. She looks a little too cadaverous or even strung out.

The second one gets better, but there's still something wrong with the way she looks. I can't quite put my finger on it, but it's either her nose or her mouth (or both) that don't work for me.

Finally, the third entry is what I was looking for. Leave it me to get the results I was looking for while using my least favorite (or comfortable) format of forced perspective. The crazy glasses that I thought were going to be a huge pain in my ass, actually helped guide me as to the placement of the rest face. Plus, the third face had the least erasing on my part (as you can see from the white eraser marks (I was using an off-white color paper)).

So there you have it, a little bit of warm up work AND a try at a little bit of a different look. Let me know what you think.

Saturday, December 10, 2011

Earlier we had the new poster for the Spider-Man remake, and now we have the new poster for the last Nolan Batman movie. Which looks pretty cool. Truth be told, I'm MUCH more excited about TDKR than I am for the Spidey remake. Mainly because Nolan hasn't steered the franchise wrong...yet.

Let's call it what it is, a reboot (or a remake if you will) of a movie that's just a decade old. Starring a guy with a nose so big you can park a '57 Chevy in the left nostril and still have room for two stretch Humvee limos. How anyone won't know that this isn't both Peter Parker and Spider-Man just by his ginormus nose is beyond me. Anyway, here's the new poster...which is actually cool.

Sunday, November 20, 2011

I haven't posted anything in a while. Sorry about that. Busy looking for a job, curled up in the fetal position on the couch watching bad tv, and drawing on occasion. But here's a little update, Wacom has a contest going on for people to submit their art to be voted on to win some stuff. Since I like free stuff, I thought I'd enter the contest with this guy:

It's a five foot by twelve foot painting on canvas I did of Galactus for my friend's comic book store. That's a Silver Surfer statue he has that inspired the background. So what I'm asking of you, loyal (or even not so loyal) reader, is to go and vote for my artwork everyday, once a day, until Dec. 16th. All you have to do is scroll down and click on "Vote for this entry" and then follow the instructions. I'd appreciate it.

I'll try to start making more frequent posts, and even post some more frequent artwork from me here in the near future. In fact, I am working on a few concept designs, for shits and giggles, that I'll post once I get the whole set completed. Until then, vote for me once a day, and I'll see you again soon.

Thursday, October 20, 2011

So I've been playing Batman: Arkham City for the last couple of days, and my initial reviews are pretty favorable. There are a few things that bug me though....

1. The remote controlled batarang that you absolutely HAVE to use to get past a few of the obstacles. Really, Rocksteady? It's lame, and if you get any kind of motion sickness you won't make it past this level.

2. All the dumb-ass side missions you HAVE to complete before you can carry on with the main story, even though there's an obvious time limit. Seriously, it's gotten to the point now that when I ever do get back to the main story mission, I'm just waiting for another dumb-ass side mission to crop up in the middle of everything....which it does.

3. Initially I thought the switching back and forth between being able to play Catwoman's storyline and then Batman's storyline was cool, but then you start missing Batman's gadgets and moves when playing Catwoman. You also miss Catwoman's ridiculously easy levels when playing Batman's levels.

4. The Ra's Al Ghul level. Pissed me off to no end with the gliding bullshit.

5. The lipsynching, or lack thereof. It's actually pretty bad. Add to it the over-exaggerated character animation to cover up the particularly bad moments of lipsynch, and it's slowly becoming my new pet peeve. Yeah, I notice these things since I'm looking for a job in animation. Seeing what employed, and supposedly professional animators do on these games mystifies me on how they get employed in the first place.

Yeah, I'm not the most proficient video gamer, but I do know what I like. Also, there seem to be a few little bugs in the game still. Every now and then Bats get caught up on something like he's half in/out of a wall. Like back in the old days of gaming.

The settings are nicely done, as are the characters. I really dig The Penguin with a British accent ala like the pig farmer guy out of the movie Snatch. Makes him much more menacing, especially for an arms dealer. Old Gotham (under Arkham City) is a cool touch too.

So if you haven't gone out yet and bought it, do it. You won't be disappointed. I rarely play video games, if that gives you any indication of how good this game actually is.

Saturday, October 15, 2011

If you played the first Batman: Arkham game, you definitely know how cool it is. Well, for Arkham City, Rocksteady is throwing a whole bunch of shit at us. If you order early from Best Buy, you get to play Robin in the extra levels. Yeah, I'm not too excited about that either. In the UK, they have a bunch of different Batman skins. Batman Beyond, Dark Knight, classic Superfriends, Batman the animated series, etc. Now that's bad ass. IF we actually get that here in the States too.

What do we get here in the States? Well, Best Buy is offering a Batman skin if you buy the Green Lantern movie on blu-ray. Sorry, Warner Bros. I'm not buying your shitty movie just to get a skin that's going to be released in a month or so. I can wait. Hell, if I'm not pre-ordering for the lame-ass Robin add-on, what makes you think I'm going to spend more money for a shitty movie just because you dangle a shriveled, moldy carrot in my face?

Now, if you offered me ALL the add-ons and skins to the game with your fucking disaster of a movie, then I would more than likely give it some serious consideration. Yes, Warner Bros., your movie WAS that bad. But it should come as no surprise, considering how bad the ticket sales were even with the addition of the inflated 3D ticket prices.

Anyway, I digress. The Batman skin they're offering is the Sinestro Corps. Batman. Take a look.

Monday, September 26, 2011

Every now and then there comes a movie that actually sneaks up on you when you're not expecting it to and it shakes the living shit out of you just to get your attention and let you know that not everyone in the world is happy with viewing the same shitty Hobbit-infested, twinky werewolf plagued, sparkling fucking vampire, and blue, alien Thundercat animal fuckers that are worshiped by people that just won't let Star Wars die the dignified death that it deserves. I think this may be one of them.

Yeah, it's directed by the guy who did Phantasm and (my personal favorite) Bubba Ho Tep. Can't wait for this one.

Saturday, September 24, 2011

Yesterday was this blog's one year anniversary. So for those of you that have been following it for that long, I take no responsibility for any brain damage or dementia you may have contracted during that time frame.

I was trying to decide what to post here as an anniversary post, but I really couldn't come up with anything good. Instead, I decided to post the video I made in response to Lucas' tinkering (yet again) with the Star Wars movies that he released on Blu-Ray. Here it is:

Yes, this is what happens when you have WAAAAAY too much time on your hands, access to video accessories, the knowledge of video editing, and no job.

Sunday, September 18, 2011

It's been a while since I've posted anything here. Mainly due to the fact that I'm fairly sure no one really cares what I'm putting up here. When no one really cares, it feels masturbatory more than anything else, and even masturbation gets to be boring if you do it often enough.

Anyway, I did a little piece recently for the Conan O'Brien show. In November they're going to NYC for a week and doing the show there. They wanted artwork from people that was NYC related, so the first thing that came to mind was the Empire State Building. Then superheroes. Since Conan has a superhero alter ego, I decided why the hell not do something with that. Here's the end result.

I had to piece the scan together, that's why there are blotchy square spots. I drew this out on watercolor paper, inked it, and then used watercolors, gray tone markers and even some white pencil to pull it all together. I also designed a costume for Andy since I figured he'd be the Flaming C's sidekick. Anyway, there it is. It's been submitted.

Friday, August 19, 2011

I'm not sure how I feel about this one. Ghost Rider has always been one of my favorite Marvel Comics characters, but the first movie was so badly done and so badly acted by Nic "Elvis-wannabee" Cage that I kind of didn't want anything to do with the character after that outing. Now we have Neveldine and Taylor (Crank and Crank 2) directing, BUT we also have Nic "I owe money to the IRS, so you'll see me in 25 movies this year" Cage coming back to the role that I feel he ruined. Anyway, here's the trailer:

The whole pissing fire thing at the end worries me, as does not actually seeing a story plot anywhere in this trailer. Well, I guess we'll find out next year.

Wednesday, August 17, 2011

Looks like we've got our first peek at Steve Rogers' (AKA Captain America) new costume. Take a look:

Not too shabby. I like the sleeker approach, while maintaining the look of the comic book costume. Simple in design. You hearin' this Spidey and Supes? If it ain't broke, don't try to gussy it up with kickball patterns and layers of latex. Keep It Simple, Stupid. Looks like the Avengers are in good hands so far.

Wednesday, August 10, 2011

Those of you who know me know of my love for stoner movies and in particular, Harold & Kumar. So it should come as no surprise that I squealed like a little girl when I heard that they were making a third movie, AND that it was to be a Christmas movie. Weeeellll, the trailer is finally here, and all I know is that I'll definitely be the first in line for the midnight show.

Of course, it wouldn't be an H&K movie without NPH himself. Yes, Neil Patrick Harris is back again, and if you don't laugh at the scene where he meets Jesus, then something's wrong with you.

Friday, August 5, 2011

UPDATE: Looks like the guys over at Nukethefridge got a full body pic of the costume....or they cobbled one out of photoshop.

You be the judge.

Yesterday we got a pic of the new Supes suited up in a costume recycled from used basketballs, and this morning we get a pic that partially shows Anne Hathaway as Selina Kyle in her robbery outfit (aka Catwoman) astride the Batpod. Take a gander:

Honestly, I find it refreshingly plain. No zippers everywhere, nor ripped up to shreds with stripper shoes, and it's not even textured like a basketball, or a tennis ball either. It looks practical. Which is why I really dig Nolan's work on the Batman movies so far.

Oh, and if you haven't seen it yet, here are a few pics of Bane (the villain of the movie) which I can only assume is pre-Venom injected.

There you have it, boys and girls. The new Batman movie is well under way in filming, and should be a nice topper to the Nolan trilogy of the Batman-saga he had planned out.

Thursday, August 4, 2011

Today, the first image was released of Zack Snyder's Superman. Take a look:

I'm not digging the suit texture, which again looks like it was made by Spaulding (see the new Spider-Man for reference). Also, the actor looks like some dude that's hired to walk around a theme park dressed as Superman.

It's no secret that I have zero love for Zack Snyder and his movies, but I'm hoping that with Chris Nolan's involvement in this one that it doesn't get screwed up too much. Warner Bros. doesn't have the best track record either for handling their comic book properties with respect in their live-action movies as we've seen with Superman Returns, Green Lantern and Jonah Hex, but I'm hoping this one doesn't get screwed as well. I know it's probably just wishful thinking on my part, but I can dream can't I?

Wednesday, July 27, 2011

If you're a semi-regular reader of this blog, you probably saw the watercolor I did for Conan O'Brien's Flaming C contest last month. Well, I just received an email and a link that it was accepted and posted to the Team Coco website. Here's the link to it.

So even though I didn't make the cut for the walls of the Coco Museum at Comic Con, I'm up on their website. Every little bit of self-promotion (ie. whoring) helps.

Tuesday, July 26, 2011

I was at Comic Con down in San Diego all last week. Did some portfolio reviews, met a few people (industry and otherwise), and bought a lot of shit I probably didn't need and don't have any room for anyway. Once I get settled I'll post a few pics and maybe a video or two.

Monday, July 11, 2011

For the upcoming Captain America movie, I did another window display for my friends at The Comic Outpost. Here are the pics:

The Window Display

Cap and Skull Face Off

Cap

Red Skull

M.O.D.O.K.

So there you have it. A fairly good representation of the comic book characters if I do say so myself.

As usual, half inch foamboard hand cut, Gessoed, painted with acrylic paint and finished with Sharpie markers. Also, these guys are for sale as are all the cutouts I do for The Comic Outpost. Cap and Red Skull are $350 each or $600 for the pair. M.O.D.O.K. is quite a bit smaller so his price is $150. So if you're in the San Francisco Bay Area, stop on by and take a look at the window displays and all the other cool stuff they have in the store.

Sunday, July 10, 2011

Finally we come full circle to the Sunday lineup at Comic Con. Again, lots of good stuff to see. Once again, I'll be there all four days hawking my shirts and getting my portfolio ripped apart by the professionals. Maybe I'll see you there.

Saturday, July 9, 2011

So here it is, Saturday's lineup. An interesting mix of people and genres this time up, plus Comic Con looks like they're showing the best of Hall H (in case you couldn't get in) later in the day. Very interesting.

Thursday, July 7, 2011

Are you heading out to Comic Con this year? This year will mark my ninth time at Nerdapalooza. I've gone under the various passes of Attendee, Press, and Exhibitor. The only pass I have yet to go under is as a Professional. Which may or may not happen, but I digress. The guys that put on the Con have released the Thursday Schedule, and I have some really great news about a panel hitting early so the rest of us don't have to feel its lingering negative impact over the rest of the Con. I am taking about the shitfest known as The Twilight Saga, of course.

A few years back, the Twilighters pretty much ruined the Con for the majority of people attending. Last year, the reason for the return of so many four day passes was due to the Twilighters not bothering to read (until the last minute) that Twilight wasn't making an appearance at the Con that year. This year, it looks like the organizers realized how dumb....excuse me, rabid the Twlighters are and managed to schedule the Twilight panel on the first day, at the beginning of the day (11:15 am) sparing the rest of us from having to suffer a repeat of the fiasco that happened a few years ago (essentially the Twilighters filled Hall H for the entire day (also called 'camping'), were rude to all the panels and guests that appeared during the day until the Twilight panel (which was the last panel of the day) came on).

If I were the organizing type, I would actually try to call on all comic book fans attending Comic Con to fill Hall H that day just to block the Twilighters out. That is I would do that if I didn't already know that those crazies will be camping out overnight in line just to get inside. Seriously, no panel is worth that long of a wait.

Anyway, I know this turned into an anti-Twilight rant (which let's face it, isn't that hard to start ranting about in the first place), but the schedule is up, along with Wednesday night's preview night. If you're going, stop on by the Comic Outpost booth and pick up my t-shirt design, or some comics, or some trade paperbacks or all of the above. And have fun while you're there.

Enjoy.

Yes, people were actually walking around with these homemade signs a few years ago at Comic Con.

Wednesday, July 6, 2011

A lot of the major studios (Sony, Disney, Marvel, etc.) said they weren't going to show at Comic Con a few months ago. Now there's word that Marvel was just joking and will be setting up a S.H.I.E.L.D. recruitment booth at the Con, and that the first teaser trailer for The Avengers will be debuted there as well. Not only that, but they are going to have an Avengers panel as well.

Well, duh. Studios are going to bail on the best free audience marketing survey device they've had in years? Of course not. They would be stupid to do so. Now whether or not they actually listen to what's being said about their panels (yeah, Warner Bros., I'm talking to you) remains to be another story entirely.

Thursday, June 30, 2011

So let me clarify something right now, if you know you don't like Bay's movies OR the Transformers OR the characters in the Transformers movies (human or otherwise), then obviously you shouldn't be watching this movie. That would be like me paying money to suffer through Return of the King, when I fell asleep through LOTR, and didn't even bother with the second movie in the trilogy. I'm just saying that it's the third movie in a trilogy, and if you weren't on board at any other point with the other two, chances are you shouldn't be hopping aboard right now either since you're bound to be disappointed.

With that said, I found this movie was what the first movie should have been all along story and plot-wise (and yes, there is a plot and it's actually good). Are there silly moments? Sure, but no moreso than in the cartoons or the previous two movies. I actually found that the human characters were toned down a little bit (except for LaDouche's character), and were necessary to move the story along. Sure, the first hour could have been edited down a little more, but at least it wasn't three and a half extremely long boring hours of some assholes with big feet walking through a forest complaining about food and their unrequited love for each other all the time when they could have just flown on the back of a giant eagle to the fire pit to drop the stupid ring into....just to put things in perspective.

It has a two and a half hour running time, but (for me at least) it didn't feel like it. Everyone that survived the first two movies is here (except for the Ghetto-Bot twins, which were replaced with the annoying smaller bots from the second movie, and Megan "Toe-Thumb" Fox), and a few new additions to the cast as well make it a fairly large cast to deal with so a lot of the shenanigans that bogged down the second movie are (thankfully) gone.

This time around we are introduced to Sentinel Prime (voiced by Leonard Nimoy) who was leader of the Autobots during the Cybertron war (which we get to see a little bit of as well) and was lost along with a great weapon that could have ended the war. Needless to say, Megatron wants the weapon, as do the Autobots, and mayhem and robot-on-robot carnage ensues. Actually, there is a bit more to the plot, but to say any more about it would reveal some surprises.

This is the first time we get to see the real consequences of these giant robots unleashed on the human population. For me, some parts of the movie actually looked a lot like the Terminator series where the HK's are hunting down and killing people. And believe me, you see people getting killed. Vaporized, blown up, etc. I was actually kind of surprised considering the first two movies were almost as bloodless as a GI Joe vs Cobra fight.

The humor in the movie is a little juvenile, but actually toned down from the previous two movies. There are two fairly good Star Trek (the original stuff, not the bastardized JJ Abram's crapfest) jokes done at Nimoy's expense. And there are a surprising amount of a handful of good actors that make an appearance in this outing. Of course, it wouldn't be a Bay movie without at least one racist character, and that's left to Ken Jeong to fill that need of Bay's. Thankfully, it's not a lot of screen time.

I saw this in 2D, but from what I'm hearing (and what I saw in the movie) 3D was the way to go see this movie since it was actually utilized correctly. So if you're on the fence, take the 3D plunge, which you know is a rare endorsement from me.

Finally, it's a movie geared towards kids and those kids that grew up with the first two movies. It's a little dumbed down, but not as bad as the second movie had been. It's what you expect a summer sequel movie to be, loud, fun, and you get to hang out with some old movie buddies one last time.....at least until the next sequel.

Rating: Full Price + 3D. Yup, I actually said WITH 3D. I know I'm a little shocked myself.

Wednesday, June 29, 2011

So I'm watching tv, when another commercial for Captain America comes on. No, no, not the lame Dunkin Donuts one where the fat ass construction worker can't drop his sugar-laden, super-sized drink to use both hands to stop the dog. I'm talking about this cool, new commercial that starts off where, those of us familiar with how Steve Rogers gets into the Avengers, were interested to see in the new Cap movie. Take a look:

Tuesday, June 28, 2011

If you're a regular browser of my blog, then you probably saw the line art I put up two weeks ago of the Conan O'Brien comic book character The Flaming C. Well, I finally got around to painting it today, and I'm pretty happy with the results.

I used the same pose from the old Ahnuld movie, Conan the Barbarian (the poster pose).

I liked the pose, I liked the background colors, and I liked the play with Conan's name being the name of the movie (yes, it's cheesey, just deal with it). I didn't like the birds in the background, so I left them out.

Everything was done in watercolor, except for the original line art. Tell me what you think in the comments down below.

Tuesday, June 21, 2011

Are you a fan of the Transformers (cartoon, toys, or movies, makes no difference)? Well, then I've got a little bit of news for you. There's a Transformers MMO that's going to hit next year, and they are now accepting applications for beta testing. In the game, you can design and name your own bot and then pick your allegiance (Autobot or Decepticon). Sound interesting? Then head on over and sign up.

Sunday, June 19, 2011

I finally got around to seeing Green Lantern tonight. Normally I tend to write my reviews about a day after seeing a movie to let it percolate and give me time to mull it over, but this one I kind of just want to get it over with sooner rather than later.

The first five minutes into the movie had me giggling (and not in a good way) at a flaming screaming skull flying out into space. If you lived during the 1970's you'd know what kind I meant. They used to adorn vans, blacklight posters, etc. and looked really cheesy even though some people think it used to look cool or even macho. It's explained in these first few minutes how the Guardians set up the Green Lantern Corps and split up the galaxy into over 3000 sectors. Each sector gets a Green Lantern to protect it, so it's kind of a big deal.

After this we see the GL for our sector getting his ass handed to him fairly easily by the screaming skull, getting injured and then ejecting from his ship to find a replacement since he knows he is dying. This is where we meet Hal Jordan, or the version of Jordan they decided to use for the big screen. He's a test pilot and a screw up, a womanizer, and still has a hangup about seeing his dad die in a plane crash when he was a kid.

Anyway, Hal gets the ring, makes the flight to Oa to meet the Lanterns and begin training. Here's where things go wrong. Hal decides he isn't right for the Corps so he returns to Earth. With the ring. You know, the ring that's supposed to be used to protect our sector of space. He does this without question from any of the other Lanterns or even the Guardians.

In the meantime, on Earth, while Hal was playing soldier, the government was examining the body and aircraft of Abin Sur. They bring in another scientist named Hector Hammond to look at the body, and of course he gets infected with some leftover spooge from the screaming skull.

Here's the really wacky part, somehow (it's never explained in the movie) Hal and Hector know each other, and they both have a thing for Carol Ferris (Hal's boss). Supposedly all three know each other, but it's kind of just thrust in there like a chunk of backstory was missing.

Anyway, the screaming skull which is the living embodiment of fear (named Parallax), is coming to Oa to destroy the Lanterns for imprisoning it. But now that Hector Hammond has been infected with this fear agent, Parallax decides to come to Earth to kill everyone and get stronger before heading to Oa.

Sinestro (a Green Lantern) asks the Guardians what they know about Parallax since they seem to know its name. They tell him that it was once a Guardian that tried to harness the power of fear to use since willpower (the power of the lanterns) seemed to be weakening. Mind you, the Guardians have billions of years of knowledge (or so they say), and have already lost one of their own trying to use fear as a weapon. So what does Sinestro suggest? Why not build a yellow ring harnessing the fear power to fight Parallax? Wasn't the asshole just listening to the story? It doesn't work. But what do the Guardians do with their vast knowledge and experience? Yup, you got it. They decide to build a yellow ring. Honestly, at this point my IQ started taking hits at how dumb this movie was becoming.

Anyway, Hal decides he wants to be a Lantern after all, so he flies all the way to Oa to ask for help against Parallax, and essentially is told good luck after he decides to take on Parallax alone. Really, something he could have phoned in with the ring (which we saw earlier in the movie) instead of wasting time flying back and forth.

Long story short, the bad no-love triangle gets resolved, Parallax comes to Earth, yada, yada, yada. The end. There's yet another incomprehensible scene about three minutes into the end credits that has a main character doing something that they would have no reason, or motivation, or setup to do. It's basically done to setup a sequel.

First off, really, REALLY bad CGI and effects in this movie. Nothing looked real world. There's even a scene where a tanker truck is thrown into the air and that CGI looks like hot wheels car. The suit's energy crackle was visually disturbing as well. It kept reminding me that it was CGI, and since it didn't blend well with the actor, it reminded me that it was bad CGI. Add to that darkness and clutter (even on the Oa scenes), and you have entirely too busy CGI scenery that makes it look like a videogame, and not a big budget movie.

And speaking of faking it, Blake Lively.....she tried, she really did, but she fell flat in trying to be human in the human moments. She was good in the few action scenes she was in, mainly because she didn't have to act against anyone else. Reynolds went through the movie with the sad puppy dog eyes he's good at doing, but there was no emotional depth to character at all. This was a paycheck from the looks of things. Seriously, there's a drinking game to be had in this movie every time someone mentions that the ring choose Hal for a reason.

Skaarsgard and Strong were pretty much on the money as far as their characters are concerned, yet they weren't in the movie as much as Reynolds and Lively. Unfortunately for us all.

Rating: Rental. Again, there's so much stuff coming out this summer that you can honestly miss this turkey and find something much more worth your time and money.

Friday, June 17, 2011

If you're not a fan of Conan O'Brien (shame on you), then you probably haven't heard of the comic book character that was created for him by Bruce Timm (Warner Bros. head of animation for DC animated movies, creator of the 1990's Batman animated series, Superman animated series, etc.). The character is called the Flaming C. Pretty funny stuff that Conan asked Timm to add to the character. Well, Conan's website last week asked for submissions for people's rendition of the Flaming C, so I figured what the hell. Here's my line art so far...

I decided to have a little fun with Conan's name and the pose in this one, so if it looks familiar you're not imagining things. I decided to use the pose from the Conan the Barbarian poster (the Ahnuld movie from the 1980's).

I'm going to finish it off using watercolors, and I'm going to set the background colors in the same palette as the movie poster colors. I'll post the finished picture when I'm done. Let me know what you think so far.

Wednesday, June 15, 2011

This little gem out of Norway has been hitting the indie and international film circuits recently to much applause. All I can say is, believe the hype. This is a "found footage" film which many have been comparing (unfairly) to The Blair Witch Project, since it's really the only Cinéma vérité that most American film goers are familiar with. The truth is, this movie is much more similar in tone to the French movie Man Bites Dog (which came out almost a decade before Blair Witch). As an aside, if you've never seen Man Bites Dog, rent it. It's a must see for anyone that likes dark comedies. Anyway, on to the review...

The story opens with a group of college kids doing a story on the bear problem and possible bear poaching in an area near them in Norway. They start following a guy they think is a bear poacher, mainly because they think it would be an interesting slant to the story for the college. As they find out rather startling, that this guy isn't out hunting bears, he's hunting trolls.

Yes, trolls are real. They're dumb, they eat pretty much anything (including rocks), and the government knows about them and tries to keep them penned into an area using electric power lines. Hans, the troll hunter, works for the government in taking care of rogue trolls (insert your own Sarah Palin joke here) for all of Norway.

Along the way we find out all the facts about trolls, and also the different variety (or species if you will) of them. One of the facts, that trolls can smell the blood of a Christian, is used to some very good comedic effect and timing in a few places in the movie.

So how was the movie? It takes a little while to get started (almost 25-30 minutes) before you start to get into it, but once it does get started it's a fun ride. Also, if you're not into subtitles (and your Norwegian is a little rusty) then this isn't for you, since the entire movie is subtitled. Hans, the troll hunter, I can see becoming another iconic movie bad ass like John McClain, or (more likely) Ash from the Evil Dead series. He has a calm, matter-of-fact kind of attitude that works very well for this kind of movie.

The CGI trolls were done very well, and for the budget were actually much more believable than the craptastic creature from JJ Abrams' bloated Super 8. Plus there's actually an attempt in this movie not to demonize the trolls, but to place them in the animal kingdom as just another part of the flora and fauna of the Earth. Very well done all the way around.

Rating: Full Price Ticket for Multiple Viewings. If this movie is playing near you, go see it and have some fun.

Saturday, June 11, 2011

One thing about doing these window displays bothers me...lots and lots of leftover scrap foamboard in irregular shapes. Sure, there are times when I get to use the scrap to reinforce one of the displays (like Thor's outstretched arm), but for the most part I've got a lot of bits and pieces that I'd like to make something from. So I decided that since the villain side of the displays were a little less than the hero side, that I'd make a few of the lesser known villains.

First up, M.O.D.O.K. (Mental Organism Designed Only for Killing). M.O.D.O.K. is a villain that started off as a serious baddie, but soon became more of a punchline in the comics. He's been associated with Captain America, who (surprise, surprise) has a movie coming out next month. So you can all guess what the next window display will actually be up at The Comic Outpost in a few weeks. Anyway, enough backstory, here he is in all his miniature glory...M.O.D.O.K.

Taken with a flash

Taken without a flash

Same specs as the others, 3/4" foamboard, hand cut, painted with acrylic paint, and finished with markers. Every now and then I get the inquiry as to how much one of my pieces would go for (since they are all on sale), and this little guy is priced at $150. Yes, I know it isn't cheap, but neither are the hours put into making a one-of-a-kind piece.

Friday, June 10, 2011

I went and saw JJ Abram's new movie, "Super 8" tonight. I sprang for the extra dough to see it on the IMAX screen to get the better sound, and because the higher ticket price keeps the riff raff out of the theater. Here's a brief synopsis of the movie:

A group of kids in a small rural town circa 1979 are making a zombie movie by the train tracks when they witness a dramatic train derailment. This derailment brings in the Air Force and the military to cover up whatever was aboard the train. Strange incidents begin to happen all over town including power fluctuations and mysterious disappearances which the kids take it upon themselves to solve.

This is Abram's homage to Steven Spielberg's 80's movies. You know, "E.T.", "Goonies", etc. as well as those 80's coming-of-age stories ("Stand By Me" comes readily to mind). So how does he do? Well, it feels like someone trying to do an 80's Spielberg movie, and pretty much missing the mark. Especially if you're one of those 80's kids, like me, that grew up seeing classic Spielberg movies first run in the theater. You can feel the nostalgia being forced.

That's not to mean that there aren't some fine performances in this movie. Elle Fanning does a good job in quite a few scenes, but does a bit of overacting in a handful of scenes as well. The other five main boy characters come off as kind of a pale imitation of The Goonies, only being film nerds instead of adventurers. And the main boy, Joel Courtney, has a lot riding on his shoulders since the film is mainly seen though his eyes, and he's nearly in every scene.

Abrams' main problem with Courtney and Fanning is that you can tell he's overly enamored with the actors and he tends to linger on them a little too long for comfort. Yes, Spielberg used to do this as well, but he used it sparingly to call attention to certain scenes. Abrams uses it at the drop of a hat.

So how does the movie story hold up? Not that well, really. These kids get into and out of ridiculous situations with ease. With so much ease in fact, that they never really truly feel like they're in any danger. Also, just like in an 80's Spielberg movie, the kids always know more than the adults, and frankly that cliche just doesn't work well anymore.

Then there's the much ballyhooed monster. You really never get a good look at the entire creature. Sure, you get a good look at its face in one scene, but it almost seems like a different creature when it's moving due to the weird movement of its limbs and the use of CGI. Also, the creature's motivation for the destruction it causes is set up well, but you would think it would go about things a little differently so as not to draw as much attention to itself given the circumstances. That's where one of the movie's flaws comes into play, because you see that the creature does have a hiding place, but then it rampages all over parts of town drawing so much attention to itself that it kind of makes no sense as to why it has a hiding place in the first place.

So is this movie worth the hype and your money to see it in the theater? Frankly, no, it's not. It's a nice, extravagant, vanity piece and homage to different time and movie type, but it falls flat in a lot of been-there-done-that archetype that we've seen in films that were made much better long before this one was ever thought up. So don't fall for the false hype.

Rating: Rental. Seriously, this summer and this year are packed with movies coming out, and this one can easily be missed being seen in the theater since it will be out on DVD in the Fall anyway.

Sunday, June 5, 2011

A few days ago I posted a drawing of Wonder Woman that I did for a friend of mine. Well, I finally finished the watercolors on it, and it didn't turn out half bad if I do say so myself. Here, check it out for yourself.

Lit with two lights

Just lit with a flash

So there you have it, my rendition of Wonder Woman done in watercolor. This is really only my third piece done with watercolor, and I'm starting to get a better feeling for it and the techniques needed to work with it competently. Tell me what you think either in the comments down below, or on Facebook. I'd appreciate the feedback and critique of the piece.

Saturday, June 4, 2011

I'm going to assume that most of you know the X-Men universe (comics, not bastardized movie universe), so I'm not going to be throwing in a lot of explanation of characters...that's what Wikipedia and Google is for..

It's been a day now since I've seen X-Men: First Class, so it's given me some time to ruminate on it and how I felt about it. First off, I went into this with middle-ground expectations. All the reviews were giving it high marks, it was directed by Matthew Vaughn (who directed the very entertaining movie "Kick Ass" among others)...but my remaining doubt was that Bryan Singer was still attached as Producer and that Fox Studios still had control of this franchise. Let me explain, Bryan Singer's X-Men movies were subpar. Very little action (mostly because Singer isn't familiar nor comfortable directing action scenes, and it shows), and the same plot in all three movies. Yes, I know Ratner directed X3, but he only stepped into the director's chair a mere three weeks before filming began. That means he had to work with Singer's script and sets. Granted, Ratner added more action in X3 than we saw in X1 and X2 combined, but it still couldn't save that movie from the same tired and hackneyed script. Unfortunately. So you see my dilemma walking into this movie. So what did I think of it?

The beginning of the movie we get the same tired opening that we saw in X1 of the concentration camp that a young Magneto is being brought to with his parents. In fact, I thought the projectionist had slipped up and actually threw the old X1 reel onto the projector considering that he/she had screwed up a little earlier and had started Bridesmaids instead of X-Men: First Class. But I digress....

We get to see a little more of what happened to young Magneto at the camp and what awakened his powers. We also get to see a young Charles Xavier and Mystique as well within roughly the same time frame. Flash forward to 1962, and you have an older Magneto hunting down Nazi war criminals. Actually I found this part of the movie much more enjoyable and preferable to having watch Xavier and Mystique stumble through their part of the story in the same time frame.

We then get a bit of cheap James Bond-esque espionage thrown our way by the CIA investigating the Hellfire Club in Las Vegas. Here we meet Moira MacTaggert as a CIA agent. Now this change kind of ruffled my feathers a little. Moira, in the comics, is a fellow geneticist and doctor. She and Charles are to have met in school, and she was quite important in the X-Men universe. So this change kind of threw me. Anyway, back to the story.

It seems that the Hellfire Club is working at starting World War Three, by getting the superpowers to place missiles close to one another's borders. Why? Because supposedly mutants can handle the radiation that would kill off the regular humans. Yup, time to dust off that old chestnut again, the war between mutants and humans.

Anyway, MacTaggart sees the mutants and wants to fight fire with fire, so she contacts Xavier since he just has graduated with his thesis about genetic mutations in humans. After a little stint at the CIA convincing them of the need to recruit mutants against Sebastian Shaw and the Hellfire Club, that's just what they set about doing. Honestly, this whole government scenario could have been clipped right out of the movie and it wouldn't have been missed. But then again, if the CIA part had been clipped out, then you would have missed out on the cheap James Bond impression the movie makers were trying to use to cover up the fact that this is just the same old, tired X-Men movie plot we've seen three times before, just with a different cast.

The movie comes to the Cuban Missile Crisis where we have our big (and second of only two) fight scene in the movie. Things are wrapped up tidily with the governments of the world fearing mutants (gee, I haven't seen that before), and Xavier at his home, which has now become a school for gifted youngsters. Ta-da!

Fassbender as Magneto was good, and actually better than Sir Ian. I actually would have sat through a movie of Magneto hunting down Nazi war criminals rather than this movie. McAvoy...well, he played a pretty arrogant Charles Xavier. Did he do a good job? Well if his job was to irk the shit out of me every time he was on the screen, then his mission was surely accomplished. Then we have the chubby Jennifer Lawrence playing Mystique...if awkward were an acting style, she would be garnishing awards a'plenty. Every single time she uttered the phrase, 'Mutant and proud.' I shuddered at how badly it was delivered and how awkward it felt in the script. But it wouldn't be a Bryan Singer production if we didn't have a gay allegory shoved in there somewhere no matter how out of place it felt.

As for the other cast members, well, they were honestly forgettable and disposable. Even Kevin Bacon as Sebastian Shaw was horrible. Think of one of the worst (least scary) Bond villains, and then bring it down another 100 fold, that's the character he played.

Again, as I stated earlier in the review, there were only two fight scenes in this movie. Two, in a movie that runs two hours and eleven minutes. There are two cameos in the movie, one that's actually quite funny and the high point of the movie, and the other which was fun but not really necessary.

The CGI was spotty in places, especially in the sub coming out of the water sequence, but other than that it was passable. The makeup on the other hand was bad when it came to the practical makeup on Beast. There's a scene in the air hangar when we first get to see the newly transformed Beast, and it looks like someone didn't glue the right part of the lip prosthetic on firmly enough. So all I ended up doing was staring at this hanging prosthetic wondering how it ever got past post-production. Anyway, enough with the tear down, let's get to the verdict.

If you're a fan of the Bryan Singer version of the X-Men, then you're in luck! Because this movie is just more of the same. Same plot, same characters, different actors, and the same lack of action. If you're like me and didn't care for Singer's version, then you're shit out of luck because you're getting more of the same, nothing new to see here. It wasn't Matthew Vaughn's fault, because he knows how to direct action movies and does it well, I put the blame directly on Bryan Singer's shoulders because this movie feels like he ghost directed it right back into the grave. I honestly hope Marvel can get the licensing for this property back from Fox and away from Bryan Singer, so that we can actually get a good representation of the X-Men done for once before I die.

Rating: Rental. I'm lucky that I got a free movie pass due to the projectionist screw-up, otherwise I would have been pissed that I spent $6 on this.